Sneezes
by Allyson
Summary: Hayfever strikes fear into Jack?


Title: Sneezes  
  
Rating: PG Author: Allyson Summary: My first Stargate short fic so be kind! Jack receives a scare.  
  
Due to all the years spent in military training, Colonel Jack O'Neill had a knack for falling asleep instantly at any time in any place. However, this time sleep alluded the Colonel. No matter how he slept - on his left side, his right side or his back - he could not block out the annoying sound that was keeping him awake.  
  
"Aiichoo!!!"  
  
Once again the quiet darkness was broken. O'Neill's eyes snapped open no longer pretending to be asleep. Next to him, he heard rather than saw his Second in Command sit up in her sleeping bag and stifle a yawn in her hand. Without bothering to stand, Carter unzipped her sleeping bag and crawled over to the only other occupied sleeping bag set a little farther away from the others.  
  
Their campfire still burned allowing O'Neill to watch Major Carter and the object of his interrupted sleep without straining his eyes too much.  
  
"Daniel?" Carter whispered sitting between him and the fire. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Sam?" Daniel Jackson's voice suggested that his nose was congested up and he was having to breathe through his mouth only. "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry."  
  
Carter smiled at him reassuringly though O'Neill could see she was tired still.  
  
"It's okay," she replied, quietly. "Teal'c will be waking me up in about half an hour anyway. Is there anything I can get you?"  
  
"Do you have any antihistamine tablets in your medical kit?" he asked, blowing his nose.  
  
"Sure," smiled Carter, reaching over for her bag. As quietly as she could she rummaged through her backpack looking for the kit. Grabbing a nearby water canteen, Carter waited for Daniel to sit up before handing over the tablets and water.  
  
"Thanks," replied Daniel, gratefully, handing back the canteen.  
  
In the firelight, O'Neill could see the other man's pale complexion and puffy red eyes that seemed to have worsened during the night.  
  
"I just don't understand how your allergies have suddenly flared up again after months of being dormant," commented Carter, still keeping her voice low. "Do you think its something native to this planet? Maybe those small blue flowers that smelled of cotton candy that you found yesterday?"  
  
Daniel shrugged. "Probably," he agreed, softly. "Janet will be able to dissect the specimen in my bag when we get back home and she can tell us whether it is or not."  
  
Carter poked at the fire with a stick to keep it going. She glanced over at the colonel before returning her attention to Daniel. As well as looking ill, his dazed eyes confirmed her suspicions that he hadn't had any sleep either.  
  
"How much sleep have you had?" she asked him.  
  
Daniel ducked his head to avoid eye contact. "Since Teal'c took over guard? I'm not sure . . . couple of hours?"  
  
A disgusted snort made Daniel's head snap back up and Carter to look around in surprise. They both found the Colonel wide awake and staring right at them.  
  
"Sir?" Carter managed to hide the surprise in her voice. "Did we wake you?"  
  
"Sorry, Jack," apologized Daniel, automatically.  
  
O'Neill sighed and reluctantly got out of his sleeping bag and joined his other teammates. Crouching down next to Daniel, he did a quick sweep of their surroundings, noting Teal'c doing a perimeter check not far away.  
  
"Well, seen as we're all awake now we might as well have some coffee," O'Neill suggested.  
  
Carter was already way ahead of him and sorting out a coffeepot and rations.  
  
"And for your information, Daniel," O'Neill continued, "you haven't slept more than half an hour."  
  
Daniel managed to look both guilty and suspicious. "And that would mean you've had no sleep yourself," he concluded.  
  
O'Neill shrugged his shoulders indifferently and silently accepted the steaming coffee mug from Carter. "Whatever," he dismissed, casually, "I'm not the one who's ill."  
  
"It's just hayfever, Jack," replied Daniel, defensively, before being betrayed by another sneezing attack.  
  
"Right." O'Neill sounded unconvinced as he watched the younger man over the rim of his coffee mug. "Carter, did you collect all your soil samples?"  
  
"Yes, sir," came the reply.  
  
"In that case, we start back to the Stargate at first light and go home," O'Neill decided, ignoring Daniel's "But Jack" look and Carter's equally disappointed expression. "There's nothing here anyway. No ruins, no natives, no Goa'ulds, just a lot of trees and plants."  
  
"Yes, sir," agreed Carter, reluctantly.  
  
"And when we get back the Doc can sort out those sneezes of yours," added O'Neill to Daniel. The Doctor didn't miss the mischievous glee sparkling in his friend's eyes. "You know how much she loves having you in infirmary."  
  
Daniel grumbled something under his breath that O'Neill didn't catch before finishing off his own drink.  
  
"I think I'll take over from Teal'c," said Carter, rising to her feet. Reaching for her rifle, she paused to look back at Daniel. "Are you okay now, Daniel?"  
  
"Yes," replied Daniel, gratefully. "Thanks, Sam."  
  
She nodded with a smile and left to find Teal'c. Daniel found himself under O'Neill's scrutiny again.  
  
"Maybe you should get some sleep," suggested O'Neill, with a gentler expression than before now that Carter had gone.  
  
"Jack, I told you I'm fine," replied Daniel, exasperated. "Nobody ever died from hayfever."  
  
"You've not slept all night and I'm not going to let Teal'c carry you back to the Stargate when you pass out from exhaustion," O'Neill told him, with a tone that brooked no argument. "I tell you what I'll do. You get at least two hours sleep and I'll make sure Janet doesn't use any needles on you."  
  
Daniel's stubbornness was easing off as he looked at O'Neill with swollen red hopeful eyes. "Promise?"  
  
"Promise," confirmed O'Neill, with a relieved smile as he realized he'd got his own way.  
  
Setting down his empty mug, he moved closer to the archeologist and helped him lie back down and rearranged the sleeping bag. Surprisingly, Daniel didn't protest to the treatment confirming O'Neill's suspicions that he had been tired all along. Propping Daniel's head up on his backpack to help him breathe easier, O'Neill reached over to take off Daniel's glasses when suddenly Daniel's hand reached up and stopped him.  
  
"Jack," wheezed Daniel, in a croakier tone that hadn't been there two minutes ago. "Jack, I can't breathe."  
  
Startled, O'Neill looked down to see Daniel's face turn a violent shade of red and his eyes bulge as he fought to pull in enough air into his lungs.  
  
"Daniel? Daniel!" O'Neill couldn't quell the rising panic in his voice as he unbuttoned Daniel's shirt to unrestrict his throat. "Dammit, Daniel, you said that no-one could die from hayfever. Don't do this to me."  
  
Daniel continued to twitch violently and gasp hoarsely but never ceased his grip on O'Neill's wrist.  
  
"Carter! Teal'c! Get back here now!" called out O'Neill, unable to break eye contact with Daniel in order to see if his teammates had heard him. "Danny, listen to me! You'll be okay; just try to breathe slow and deep. Do you hear me?"  
  
"I-I-I'm - sorry, Jack," Daniel managed to get out between desperate gulps of air. "My - fault - a-a-again."  
  
"Shh, Danny," soothed O'Neill, struggling to pull his friend into an upright position. "It's not your fault. Just try to breathe."  
  
Daniel's eyes began to flicker dangerously before rolling up to the back of his head. As his body went limp, O'Neill could hear Carter and Teal'c running towards the campsite behind them.  
  
"Daniel?" whispered O'Neill, numb with shock, not comprehending what had just happened. Daniel was dead? "DANIEL!"  
  
Jack O'Neill bolted upright, his heart racing and despair and absolute panic coursing through him. Looking around wildly, confusion started to settle in as he realized he was sitting on a standard military grey bed, surrounded by four grey walls and defiantly no signs of a campsite on an alien world. He was in the temporary sleeping quarters of Cheyenne Mountain. Alone. Where was Daniel? And Carter and Teal'c? Had it all been just a bad dream?  
  
Getting to his feet, O'Neill bolted out of the room and down the corridor, ignoring the indignant cries of people he pushed passed in his hurry. He banged open the door to the office with such force that the two occupants inside cried out in surprise.  
  
"Sir," reprimanded Carter, both surprised and unhappy at the coffee she had spilled over herself and the star chart she had previously been looking over with her companion.  
  
O'Neill didn't seem to hear her as his eyes locked onto the person he was searching for. Daniel frowned at O'Neill's shocked and relieved expression and rounded the littered table to meet him.  
  
"Jack?" he asked, unsure of his reaction. "What's wrong?"  
  
"You're alive," was all the other man could say.  
  
Daniel exchanged a worried look with Carter before looking back at O'Neill. "Well of course I am," he replied, worried about his friend's sanity. "I haven't been anywhere to-"  
  
His sentence was cut off as Jack pulled him into a hug.  
  
Surprised, Daniel asked, "Jack, is everything okay?"  
  
Pulling away from the archeologist, O'Neill gave Daniel's shoulders a vigorous shake before letting go. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, Daniel," he warned him, seriously. "How's your allergies?"  
  
"They're . . . they're good," stammered Daniel, confused.  
  
"Sweet," nodded O'Neill, relieved. "Hey, sorry about the coffee, Carter."  
  
With that he left the office as abruptly as he'd entered. In the stunned silence that followed, Daniel was sure he could hear O'Neill in the corridor outside muttering, " . . . must pack extra medication for hayfever from now on . . ." as he walked away.  
  
"Okay . . . that was . . . weird," he muttered, as he turned back to help Carter once again.  
  
Carter just shook her head in disbelief before both scientists got back to work.  
  
THE END. 


End file.
